As car makers experiment with methods to make driving electric vehicles more involving Porsche has confirmed that it won’t be introducing simulated gear selection.
Sim shifts are a feature of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, and can give the driver a sense of additional control, cutting power and torque briefly when the driver changes a virtual gear, but Porsche believes that its cars will be faster and more enjoyable without such software.
In an interview with Australian media Porsche development driver Lars Kern said: “Obviously, we look into what the competition does, but our perspective on this is always why should we make something worse?”
“The electric engine is better than an ICE, so we figured there’s no reason to simulate what has been in the past. We looked at it, but … I don’t see the point of using it to make it feel like a combustion engine because it’s not, so we don’t.”
“We drove the Hyundai N and had a look at it, and, obviously, there’s always people who think that’s a good idea and there’s always people think it’s a bad idea,” Kern told drive.com.au. “We came to the conclusion that that is not what we are looking for. We don’t try to make the electric car feel like a combustion engine, so that’s why we just didn’t follow up on that.”
Porsche has just refreshed the Taycan, its original EV, the electric Macan is now on sale alongside the previous ICE version, and the successor to the 718 Cayman and Boxster will arrive in 2025 with no combustion option.
Unlike some rivals Porsche isn’t completely all-in on EVs, however, stating, “The transition to electric cars is taking longer than we thought five years ago. Our product strategy is set up such that we could deliver over 80 per cent of our vehicles as all electric in 2030 – dependent on customer demand and the development of electromobility.”
That development clearly won’t include attempts to ape the past.
